ACTING chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu has declared that the Commission has been battling with bad eggs within its fold who have been scuttling the fight against corruption just as he assured that the Anti-Corruption agency will not relent in the fight.Ibrahim Magu, who fielded questions from journalists in Gombe shortly after a town hall meeting with stakeholders at the North-East zonal office of the EFCC, said that some of the staff found wanting on corruption charges are already being investigated and prosecuted while some of them are already serving various jail terms.
According to him, “a lot of issues were raised that there is corruption in the EFCC, I agree, we are also doing a lot of things just like the way we are fighting corruption outside the EFCC, we also have a machinery in place in the EFCC, we call it internal affairs for fighting corruption right inside the EFCC and outside the EFCC.”
He also said that the fight against corruption should not be left to President Muhammaadu Buhari or the EFCC alone but that all Nigerians should take the responsibility of fighting corruption together.
In the words of the EFCC Boss, “I have realised that the most effective strategy in fighting corruption is to mobilise everybody on board, let every body join hands in the fight against corruption because we are all affected by the evil in corruption.”
He then explained that the town hall meeting was aimed at assessing the performance of the Commission and make corrections where necessary saying, “Anytime I visit my zonal offices, I insist that people should be brought around and they should assess us, tell us the truth and we see how we can correct it.”
Some of the issues raised among many others during the interactive session, bothered on complaints and interventions on money politics where huge sums of money are allegedly spent for delegates buying, the intervention of the anti-graft agency to increase minimum wage to curb corruption, the execution of recovered loot and more enlightenment on the activities of the commission.
There were allegations of corruption within the organisation, the persecution of those in opposition as well as the investigation of electricity distribution companies on high tariffs, the low tempo of the whistle blowing policy and abandoned projects by governments and contractors at all levels.
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